Gui Santos scored on a go-ahead layup with 19 seconds remaining, and Al Horford came up with a decisive steal moments later as the Golden State Warriors closed on an 11-0 run to edge the Memphis Grizzlies 114-113 on Monday night.
After Santos’ basket gave Golden State the lead, Horford stole the ball from Cam Spencer after rebounding a Memphis miss, sealing the comeback for the Warriors, who were again without Stephen Curry because of a lingering right knee injury. Coach Steve Kerr said Curry will also miss Sunday’s All-Star Game.
Pat Spencer led a balanced Golden State attack with 17 points and seven assists, one of seven Warriors to score in double figures. Brandin Podziemski, Santos and Horford each scored 16 points, Moses Moody added 15, and Draymond Green finished with 14 points, including four 3-pointers.
Earlier in the day, the Warriors announced that Jimmy Butler underwent surgery in Los Angeles for a torn ACL in his right knee, an injury that ended his season last month.
Golden State trailed most of the night before rallying late. De’Anthony Melton’s layup with 2:46 remaining cut the deficit to 113-110, and Moody followed with a basket to make it a one-point game. The Grizzlies would not score again.
Ty Jerome led Memphis with 19 points, scoring 14 in the first half while also handing out seven assists. Jaylen Wells’ jumper with 4:17 left proved to be the Grizzlies’ final basket.
Memphis got a strong effort from its bench, which totaled 68 points — the most Golden State has allowed to reserves this season. Jahmai Mashack scored 17 points off the bench, Taylor Hendricks had 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 15.
The Grizzlies led 65-57 at halftime after closing the second quarter on an 11-4 run, highlighted by five straight points from Scotty Pippen Jr. Memphis had trimmed the margin to 54-53 earlier on Spencer’s layup with 2:58 left in the half.
The loss was the third straight for Memphis and its ninth in the last 11 games. Golden State has now won eight consecutive home meetings against the Grizzlies dating back to October 2021.
Green also reached a milestone, moving past Latrell Sprewell (8,032) into 14th place on the Warriors’ all-time scoring list.
Up next:
Grizzlies at Denver on Wednesday night to wrap up a five-game road trip before the All-Star break.
Warriors host San Antonio on Wednesday night.
